Soldering titanium eyeglasses

Jewelry Discussion
1

I repair alot of eyeglasses. I need some helpfull hints on
soldering titanium eyeglasses. Thank you from Ed in PA.

2 
       I repair alot of eyeglasses. I need some helpfull hints
on soldering titanium eyeglasses.

I have a pair of titanium glasses. Mine have the ear cables
which loop around the back of my ears and keep them from falling
off. At one point, one of the ear cables broke. I simply hard
soldered it back to the rest of the fram. I didnt have to worry
about pickling it or cleaning it well, because the plastic tubing
over the ear cable covers the solder joint. to replace the
tubing I used the shrink tubing which is sometimes used in
electronics. I dont know if this helps you or not.

Michael / QuestFox

3

My wife had a pair of titanium glasses and broke one of the ear
pieces. After trying an hour to get the solder to stick I finally
took that side off and made up a sterling one to match it. I
think that why they make picks from titanium 'cause the solder won’t stick too hard! Geo.

4

Dear Michael, I’ve been led to believe that I couldn’t solder
titanium without specialised inert gas welding gear. What sort of
solder and flux did you use and how did you do it? I ask because
so-called “conventional wisdom” isn’t always correct. "Experts"
told me I couldn’t possibly bead set stones in titanium - and
that was twenty years after I’d started doing
it! Looking forward to your response. Kind regards, Rex from Oz.

5

I solder about 50 to 60 pairs of glasses a month and as far as
titanium goes it is a lost cause. You also see this in with the
flexon frames that are supposed to be unbreakable. If you find a
way please let me know.
Chip Stone (Yes that is my name)

6 
    "Experts" told me I couldn't possibly bead set stones in
titanium - and that was twenty years after I'd started doing
it!

Rex, Way to go!!! Welcome to the club ahahahah I wish I’da known
you worked in Ti! ; } Seems there aren’t many of us who set in
Ti, and it’s refreshing to see more and more people branching
out and embracing this incredible metal.

WAHOOOO!
Heather Sickler
Intrica Fine Jewelry

7

Hello Geo Stanfort, Titanium is impossible to solder. It is a
metal with oxidizes directly when heated up. These Titanium
oxides (the same as the white stuff in wall paint this is TiO2)
are the cause that solder won’t stick. Also this oxide gives a
brittle cracks in the titanium. The only thing possible way is
to weld it unther a protective gas or unther vacuum. However these
equipment’s are expensive and there for the only simple way to
repair this pair of eyeglasses is to make a new leg from
titanium or put over the broken part a tube and glue the legs in.
If you want to know more about titanium please mail me.

Martin N
@Martin_Niemeijer

8

Chip, Have you tried laser welding? You would need to send it
out to a company who has a machine for the initial try, but if
it worked and you do a lot of that type of repair then it could
open up a whole new market. Besides there are many applications
for the technology, not just in the jewelry field.

Larry Seiger

9

Hi,this is peter from germany.I just want to tell you that laser
welding works.We use this welding method since two years and I
tell you it is a revelution.

10

Hey guys, I have a laser if anyone is interested in welding Ti.
Doesn’t work if torch has been applied, nor does it work on Ti
alloys like Nickel/Ti for flexible frames. Bob Staley, B.Staley,
Goldsmiths @bstaley or 770-382-8268 EST

11

Rex, I soldered it the same as I would silver. I figure there
are several reasons it may have worked. Perhaps the ear cable is
not titanium like the rest of the frames, perhaps the titanium
alloy in glasses frames is different from a more pure titanium
used injewelry, perhaps I just got lucky. Good luck,
Michael/QuestFox

12

Dear Michael, Thanks for your response. I’ve been doing a bit
more digging around the topic and discovered that there is a
nickel-titanium alloy wire that dental technicians use. Perhaps
this is what you had. I don’t know any more about it than that it
exists and haven’t yet had a chance to get my mitts on some.
Perhaps an experienced Orchidist like Skip Meister might have
more on this. Kind regards, Rex from Oz.

13

Titanium can be torch brazed with either pure silver or sterling
silver as the brazing alloy and the use of special paste fluxes
that protect the joint at high temps. The main problem is to
remove the Ti oxide layer that is present on all Titanium that
has been exposed to atmospheric oxygen for any length of time.
This is normally removed by pickling in a hydrofluoric acid and
nitric acid mixture. Hydrofluoric acid it terrible stuff and
should not ever be handled except in laboratory conditions by
trained personnel with all of the proper safety precautions.
John Burgess could probably give us more about
working with it.

Jim

@jbin
James Binnion Metal Arts
4701 San Leandro St #18
Oakland, CA 94601
510-533-5108